The Music In Her Soul
by Getting Me Through The Night
Summary: Nobody had hair that soft, or eyes that blue, or a smile that bright. And her voice? Well, that should be illegal. [BeChloe]
1. Chapter 1

**AU where Chloe's in a college band and Beca accidentally gets really into their music, so when she plays a mix of one of Chloe's songs on the radio, Chloe just has to meet this mysterious DJ.**

* * *

She _really_ didn't intend to turn this into a big deal. She just needed a way to get this song out of her head. A little escape. Though even now the astounding vocals of the lead singer in the song Beca was lightly humming to _still_ left her speechless, which was completely unlike Beca, who always had a sarcastic comment or a snide remark.

The brunette drummed her fingers on the wood of her desk while she stared intently at her computer screen. She wasn't sure what time it was, only that it was really late, or really early in the morning. She did know though, that'd she'd been working on this mix the past five hours or so, and it was, finally, nearly done. Except, _nearly_ wasn't _done,_ so Beca mentally kicked herself for getting her hopes up. She sighed, going over to **File** and slowly scrolling through the multiple options, before hitting the **Save As...** option and going through her files, until selecting one as saving the mix she was working on as **Mash-up_9 . 27 . wav** to her hard drive. She'd never admit it, but Beca was a spastic saver, constantly worried that her work would get erased.

The petite woman sighed, and she lightly closed her Mac. She sat back in her chair and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, unconcerned that she probably woke up Kimmy Jin a few times by randomly humming lyrics from the song. After a while, or, more like, when the kink in Beca's neck started to really bother her, she stretched and reached over her desk to grab her phone. She lightly pressed her thumb again the power button, the screen illuminating her face with an unnatural light. Beca groaned as she saw the time. 3:49AM. She really hated herself for letting herself stay up this late when she had a morning class tomorrow. Or, today. Not that she really _had_ to take her Intro To Mythology class. Right? No, she shouldn't think like that. But it was _really_ tempting.

Beca sighed again, for what seemed like the 100th time that night. She shook her head and stood, taking off her headphones and setting them on her laptop, which she pushed to the back of her desk. She glanced out the window to her left, scanning the campus. Save for the occasional dorm light, the school was dark and quiet. Beca wondered if the little diner near her dorm was still open at 4AM, but she doubted it. So instead, she walked a few steps over to her bed and flopped down onto her back, before grabbing a pillow and curling up into it, still lightly humming the now familiar tune. And she was still humming around 4:30AM, when she fell asleep.

-x-

Beca's phone went off at 7:30AM, like it was supposed to. She really hated when it did that. The brunette groaned, scrunching her eyes shut for another minute or so, trying to buy herself some more time. But that's when she remembered that time didn't work like that, and she wasn't some time lord like the Greek Titan she was supposed to be studying for the class she was supposed to be going to.

And that god damn song was still running through her mind. Really, she'd only heard two solid times. Maybe a few times on the radio, but she never really payed attention to it, not really. She'd kinda just labeled it under _stupid generic pop song._ But then she heard it the second time, the second _solid_ time, and while she was right about the instrumental being some stupid generic pop beat, the singer's voice was enchanting.

The tiny DJ distracted herself momentarily by thinking of the ginger female singer. She didn't even know her name, but Beca had already made a sort of emotional attachment to her, not that she'd ever admit that out loud. It amused her for a little while, before her second alarm, (appropriately titled _Stop daydreaming, and hurry up_ ) sounded around her small door room. She stuck up her middle finger at it briefly before she shut it off and got out of bed.

After a little while, Beca stood in front of her door, wearing her over-worn red tank top, a dark purple and black flannel, a pair of skinny jeans and her converses. She sighed deeply as she turned the doorknob, knowing full well she was late and she'd probably get yelled at.

-x-

Beca's yawn was followed by a groan as she exited her Intro To Mythology class. She was right about the getting yelled at part, but she completely overlooked the fact that getting yelled at meant she had about 30 pairs of eyes on her, so she really didn't get started with a good impression. She'd have to do some damage control later.

But she didn't have any other classes for the day, and that brightened her mood, if only slightly, as she scaled campus to get to her dorm the fast way. And she was nearly there when her stomach stopped her with it's demands for food. She paused, and frowned, looking around before noting she was close to her dorm, which meant she was close to her little diner she always went to. Happy that she remembered, Beca changed course and began walking straight towards the diner.

-x-

About ten minutes later, Beca pushed the doors of the diner and stepped inside, clapping her hands together and letting a grin escape and dance across her face. She really loved this place. Plus, it wasn't ever that busy. Like now. There were only two people in a booth, talking to each other. Probably about some exam paper neither of them could finish.

"Ah, Mitchell!" A hearty voice said. It was kinda low and rough, like what'd you think Santa Claus would sound like. And Beca knew it very well. She glanced up at the counter to see Reef, the man who ran the diner. And pretty much the only employee. He was kinda pudgy, with a scraggly beard and a near bald head. He reminded Beca a lot of her Grandpa, when he was alive, that is. "The usual then?"

"Let's switch it up a little, Mr. Claus." Beca said, skipping over to the counter. "I don't really need much, so a danish would be great." she told Reef. The older man chuckled and nodded. "Gotcha," he said, going into the back room.

While Beca waited, the door opened with it's familiar little chime. The brunette glanced over her shoulder, only to see a head of flaming ginger hair walking slowly towards the counter. Beca frowned, because she seemed really familiar. But she wasn't sure where from. And she _knew_ she recognized her because only one person had eyes that blue and a smile that brilliant.

Oh.

It was her.

The lead singer of the band, who's song had implanted itself in Beca's mind.

 _Oh._

Beca awkwardly cleared her throat, turning back towards the counter a little too fast, and stumbling over her shoelace that just so happened to be undone. Great _._ Just _great._ Thanks shoelace gods.

"Oh, easy there!"

Beca froze when something touched her elbow and steadied her, and she looked over her shoulder at the head of ginger hair. Up close, the singer was much more attractive then on screen or at one of the party concerts she held. Her cheeks where kinda rosy and framed by ginger locks on either side, and her eyes, my gods, her eyes. No body has eyes that blue, or that wide or that breathtaking. It was unfair.

"Hey!" she said, in an unusually perky tone, holding Beca gently by the elbow, even though the brunette and found her footing ages ago. "I'm Chloe, you alright?"

"Beca," the brunette said stiffly, sliding out of Chloe's grip and trying to make it seem casual. "And I'm fine, thanks. You uhm... Nevermind." Beca mentally slapped herself. She couldn't just ask the ginger- Chloe, straight out if she was in a band. That would sound rude, and probably scare her away thinking she was some crazed fan.

"Oh-kay." Chloe said, eyebrows raised as she tilted her head to the side to look at the counter just as Reef returned with Beca's danish and a hot cocoa with cinnamon and a tad bit of whipped cream. "The drink's on the house, cupcake." he told her with a wink, before noticing Chloe. "Friend of yours, Mitchell?"

"No," Beca said immediately, shaking her head and taking her food. "She's just a customer."

Reef raised his eyebrows like he knew Beca was lying. He nodded slowly before turning to Chloe. "What can I getcha?"

"Just a mocha. Small's good." she told Reef, after she was done looking at Beca with a slight hurt expression.

"Sure thing. I'll just be a mo'."

And then Reef was gone again, and Beca just stood awkwardly while Chloe watched her, rather then watching for Reef to come back. Beca wasn't sure herself why she was still here. She'd gotten her food and even a free drink, and she even held them both in her hands, but she was stuck just staring at Chloe. She must've seemed like such a stalker.

"So, Beca. You come here often?"

Beca snapped out of her thinking, and shook her head. "I-I mean yeah. I do. My uh, my dorm is nearby so, this is my go to spot."

Chloe nodded, smiling again. Probably at Beca's awkwardness. "That's cool. I don't usually stop by here too much, but I don't know why. This menu is incredible."

"Yeah..." Beca breathed, though she probably wasn't talking about the menu. And then she opened her mouth, and set her drink on the counter and checked her phone for the time. "Oh, oh shoot. I actually have to scram." she said, before putting it back in her pocket. "I go a ton of homework about like.. Gaea or whoever mother earth is."

"That's too bad," Chloe said, pursing her lips as Reef came out through the back. "See you around, maybe?"

"Maybe." Beca agreed, before smiling slightly, and saying a soft; "Okay," before picking up her drink and holding her danish in her mouth so she could nibble on the end as she walked home. Or rather, jogged because she suddenly had an inexplicable urge to finish her mix.

* * *

 **Ahhhhh it's finally done. I've been working on this for a while. I'm kinda proud of it. There, yet again, might be a few typos but I feel responsible for posting something because I'm going on a four day holiday to see the World Cup and I'm not sure how much I'm going to be able to write.** _Let It Slip_ **is nearly done. Or, chapter two is, I mean. So I might try and post that Wednesday or so. But I hope you enjoy this little thing I'm starting. Even if it doesn't get all that many positive reviews, I'll probably continue it for myself. But thanks for reading. And remember, reviews inspire me ;)**

 **xoxo**

 **~Beale**


	2. Chapter 2

_Finally._

After a long night of sighing, and head shaking, and literally just groaning because _why did I get myself into this mess_ it was done. This stupid mix that Beca had been working for the past who knows how long, and probably all because of this one silly ginger she met in Reef's diner earlier that afternoon. Yeah, it was probably all her fault. Though really, Beca should be worried. Because if it was her fault, that meant she inspired Beca to finish her mix. Or more like she just plain out _inspired Beca._

Chloe huh. Chloe was a nice name, at least to Beca. She'd practiced saying it multiple times while staring at her ceiling, in between those two minute stress relieving breaks she'd take. She told herself that it wasn't weird, practicing _saying a name._ But now the small DJ had gotten used to it. It felt normal on her tongue now, which was an odd thing to say. But it was true.

Thinking back to her conversation with the ginger, Beca wasn't even sure what she said. She was pretty certain she had said her name, and, being Beca, had probably thrown in a snarky remark. She hoped it wasn't too bad of a comment, because she did want to see Chloe again. Had she scared her off? She did seem a little upset at the end of their conversation, if Beca remembers correctly.

The DJ groaned, and pinched the bridge of her nose as she leaned back in her seat. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and leaned back over her computer, saving the mix and making a copy that she added to a portable USB simply titled _Beca 9.27_ before closing her Mac and pushing it to the back of her desk. It was probably late again, but this time Beca didn't bother checking her phone for the time. Instead, she just plugged it in to charge and set it by her bed, before slipping into a baggy shirt and falling into bed.

* * *

That cursed alarm. One day, it wakes Beca up at least an hour before she was supposed to be, and the next it doesn't even go off.

Which is why Beca missed her lit class.

The brunette stared at her phone with a very disgruntled expression. Her makeup wasn't done, her hair was in a messy bun, her shirt was twisted and hung off her shoulder, and she was wearing these shorts that looked a lot like boxers, but if you called them boxers Beca would deny any knowledge of owning them. Something she would most definitely not wear in public, and she was ever-so-grateful that Kimmy Jin seemed to have a class at the moment.

It was about 1PM, and her stomach knew this, but Beca didn't feel like going anyway right now. She just wasn't feeling it. So she just sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her phone, until her eyes started drooping.

And then her phone vibrated.

It shocked Beca more then it should've, and the brunette jumped, nearly loosing her grip on her phone that she now held tightly. She sighed, and pressed the _on_ button lightly. She frowned at the text message.

 _Jesse (1:08pm): Becaw!_

 _Jesse (1:12pm): You awake?_

 _Jesse (1:17pm): Beeeeecaaaaaaa._

Beca groaned, unlocking her phone to text Jesse back. She'd met the little (or, not so little) ball of ''movications'' and ''juice pouches'' at her DJ internship. Sure, he could make her laugh occasionally, but the CD cover game was getting old, and she was really sick of his movications by now. Because Beca hated movies. And while a few a them a good, Jesse suddenly took a turn in the direction of watching old, sappy, romance music, insisting that they have some of the best soundtracks. And she wasn't that dense, she knew Jesse _kinda_ had a thing for her, but she really wasn't interested right now.

She typed in a quick reply.

 _Beca (1:21pm): Getting food. Call u later._

The small DJ frowned at her text, but shook her head. _It's good enough._ Now she just needed to try and look remotely human before she headed to Reef's for a bagel.

* * *

30 minutes later and Beca was opening the door to Reef's diner, wearing a very casual black long sleeved shirt with skinny jeans and an old pair of converses she had found earlier that afternoon. She slowly stepped inside, while rubbing her eye because she was still hella tired, which was a problem, considering it was almost 2PM.

The moment she began walking up to the counter, she was greeted by a hearty; "Afternoooooon Mitchell!" from Reef, who was leaning over the counter and grinning widely at her.

"Hey, Reef." Beca greeted, nonchalantly putting her hands in her pockets as she strolled up to the counter. "I'll just do a.. bagel. Plain, creamcheese. And a-"

"Chocolate milkshake, large, touch of whipped cream. Got it."

Beca rolled her eyes. _Of course_ Reef had memorized her drink. She got the same thing ever since she discovered Reef made _killer_ milkshakes. "Yeah, I'll do one of those."

"Gotcha, lil' miss." Reef began to head towards the kitchen, when he froze in his tracks like he remembered something, then he backtracked and faced Beca. "By the way, Red's sitting alone at table four." he said, throwing in a wink before turning back towards the kitchen.

Beca blinked a few times, before turning around and inspecting the diner. It was empty, save for the same couple from yesterday in the same booth, and... Chloe.

Chloe was _here._

The ginger sat alone at a table four two, that was just by a window that looked over the campus. She had a small latte and what seemed like a half eaten blueberry muffin accompanying her as she stared intently down at a book. Her eyebrows where scrunched together in concentration as her bright blue eyes scanned page after page. Beca was contempt just watching her for a while, before she realized she was staring. She awkwardly cleared her throat, before quietly whispering to herself; "You can do this Mitchell."

The tiny DJ slowly began to weave her way towards her table, trying hard to think of a conversation starter. She didn't give herself enough time though, because she had reached Chloe's table, and Chloe had noticed her.

"Beca!" she said, a grin immediately spreading across her face as she bookmarked her page in the book by folding down the corner.

"Hey," Beca said curtly, playing the the ends of her sleeves as she searched for something to say. "Is uh... is this seat taken, by any chance?" _Smooth Mitchell, smooth._

The ginger shook her head, and gestured for Beca to sit. The brunette remained her awkward self as she fidgeted a bit before pulling out a chair and sitting down and awkwardly clapping her hands together. "Hey," she repeated, in more of a breath then anything.

"Hey," Chloe echoed, still smiling at Beca like it was the easiest thing in the world. And Beca found herself caught up in that smile. Which was a problem, because Chloe was probably waiting for Beca to say something and...

This girl would be the death of her.

* * *

 **Hiiiiiii I'm heeeeere with a chapter updaaaaate.**

 **Okay, yet again, probably a few minor typos here. I kinda didn't know how to end it because I really just wanted to get this up because I've been working on it for a while sooooo hey! Here it is! I hope you liked it (I finally got them talking... sort of) and yeeeep. Remember, reviews inspire me.**

 **Also, follow my Tumblr: i-said-oops**

 **xoxo**

 **~Beale**


	3. Chapter 3

"Didn't you say you didn't come here often?"

Beca and Chloe had been sitting opposite each other for a while, stealing nervous glances at each other, or, at least, Beca was nervous. Chloe seemed perfectly comfortable, albeit a bit at a loss for words. Finally, Beca recalled bits of her last conversation with the ginger. And thank the gods she did, or else she was pretty sure she would crumble under the awkwardness and make up some excuse to leave.

"Oh," Chloe said, her smile faltering slightly as she shifted, but it came back full force once she started talking again. "Yeah, well, I _do_ remember mentioning the incredible menu," she said slightly, throwing in a wink at the end of her sentence (which made Beca blush slightly, but if you question that she'd deny everything).

Beca raised her eyebrows and looked at her selection of food. "You're eating a muffin," she pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"S-so?" Chloe retaliated, cursing herself for stuttering. "It's a killer muffin."

"I'm sure it is."

And then they fell into an awkward silence again. Both girls occasionally glanced at each other, before looking around the room and doing it again. That is, until Beca's phone blared out the tune of November. It was a song she'd found while looking through multiple YouTube videos and accidentally stumbling upon a cover done by the artist, Gabrielle Aplin. It was one of those songs that she wouldn't listen to on a usual day, but had caught her attention and she found herself playing it on loop.

She groaned, knowing full well that is was Jesse calling, November being the ringtone she assigned to him. Chloe looked at her brunette friend, raising an eyebrow. "Ex?"

Beca rolled her eyes so hard she convinced herself she saw her skull. "He wishes," she muttered, pulling out her phone and swiping across the screen before putting it to her ear. "Hey, Jesse."

"Becaw!" the voice on the other end of the line was very close, and very loud. A little too loud. Beca held the phone away from her ear slightly as Jesse continued to talk. "Did you forget to call me? It's 2:43, Beca. Not cool." and Beca thought he was genuinely upset at first, but then he laughed and she shook it off.

"Yeah, sorry Jesse," Beca said, frowning and leaning into her hand. "I'm out with someone right now so-"

"Is it a guy?" Jesse interrupted. He seemed much more serious now, and that kinda made Beca nervous. She looked up at Chloe, whose eyebrows were furrowed and had this look on her face. Something between confusion and being worried and... distaste?

Beca slid the phone onto the table and tapped the _SPEAKER_ icon, before stating. "It's a girl. Her name's Chloe," to which Chloe waves at the phone, which is ridiculous because Jesse and see her, and says a very high sounding; "Hey..!"

"Oh," Jesse said, his voice rattling slightly on the other end of the line, before turning into a normal sounding; "Hi, Chloe. Becs, wanna go out for dinner sometime? Like, how's tonight?"

Beca looked up at Chloe, eyes wide and eyebrows arched as she vigorously shook her head, and gave her new found friend pleading eyes.

Chloe took the hint, looking from Beca to her phone on the table. "Actually..." she began, glancing back up at Beca, who was now nodding to encourage her ginger friend. "Sorry Jesse. I promised Beca I'd take her out for a ice cream after lunch, then she's coming to my place." the ginger finished, smiling to herself and throwing Beca a wink, then laughing at her gaping expression.

"What?" Jesse groaned over the line, and Beca could picture him slouching. "That sucks. Fine... don't get into trouble, okay?"

Chloe was staring straight at Beca as a grin found it's way onto her face. "Oh, I'll take good care of her." she said, gaze never faltering. She had succeeded at making Beca squirm in her clothes again, and it was great.

"Okay then. And on that note, I bid you too farewell. See you later, Beca."

Beca shut off her phone without saying goodbye, instead, she muttered, "Yeah, I kinda hope not." as she put her phone back into her pocket.

Chloe leaned forward in her seat. "He's so into you," she said, and Beca had to force herself to not look away, because it felt like Chloe was slowly sinking a dagger into her heart with those eyes of hers.

"Yeah, well, it's completely one-sided." she said, frowning and rolling her eyes - she seemed to be doing a lot of that on Jesse related events. "He's like my older brother who I have to look after because God knows what would happen if I don't. Plus, he's not my type." She rambled, gesturing with her hands a few times.

"What _is_ your type, Be-ca." the ginger muttered, sounding out the smaller woman's name.

"Human, preferably." Beca answered, raising her eyebrows. Chloe laughed, and fell back into her seat beaming. She paused, and looked at Beca with a pointed expression when the brunette's stomach growled.

"Shit," Beca cursed, looking over her shoulder to see her milkshake and bagel sitting on the counter, while Reef stood by the coffee machine, humming lightly as he stirred his newly made dark coffee. "Just a minute, Chlo... Chloe?" she said, eyebrows furrowing before she shook her head and went to get her milkshake and bagel.

When she came back, a bit of whipped cream on her nose from the milkshake, Chloe was grinning again. Beca was about to ask her what's up, when she said; "Chlo's fine, _Becs_." To which Beca rolled her eyes, though she was smiling behind the whipped cream in her cup.

* * *

Chloe was lying when she said she'd take her out for an ice cream.

Beca found herself being dragged out to a Baskin Robbins by the ginger, and she also found herself waiting what felt like thirty years for the same ginger to choose one of the 31 flavors. Eventually she settled for a Lunar Cheesecake (which Beca thought was a completely ridiculous name, but then again, it was a kinda ridiculous flavor. Green cheesecake?) and Beca went for a classic chocolate, not wanting to go through the whole choosing process.

The two girls talked for a while, laughing when Beca got chocolate ice cream on her nose - which Chloe offered to lick off, but Beca quickly turned that offer down, wiping it off with her sleeve instead.

It was about 8:30PM when Beca had to go. The two had followed suit with their improvised plan, so Beca found herself sitting on Chloe's bed in Chloe's bedroom in Chloe's flat, which sounds normal, but Chloe's small flat was a sight for sore eyes. It may be small, but the walls where this nice pale blue/green color and the floor was made of some kind of light brown wood and there where pictures - tons and tons of pictures - and giant dark blue music notes hanging from the walls, and a a whole array of different instruments, and a cute little table accompanied by a cute little kitchen and Beca was instantaneously in love.

Not that she'd ever say that, though.

Chloe had talked her into watching an episode of Buffy, which turned into a marathon. Chloe would insist Beca was totally into it, to which the DJ would shake her head and answer with; "I just wanna complain about Angel's brooding self and oh my gods, that bitch Cordelia?"

And Chloe would take offense every time and retaliate with; "Hey! Cordelia is _not_ a bitch!" and they'd get into a small argument over Cordelia, occasionally bringing in other characters to back up their respective points of view.

Chloe usually won.

Which prompted another episode.

Eventually, Beca had got a text from Luke, the station manager, informing her that she should probably tell him next time she wasn't going to show for the night swore loudly, and texted him back a quick; "Sorry! I wasn't paying attention to the time, I'll be right over." before telling Chloe she had to go. The redhead looked visibly crest fallen until Beca explained why, which is when Chloe offered to give her a ride (which the brunette turned down, insisting it was withing walking distance.)

At 8:34, Beca stood under Chloe's door frame, making light conversation with Chloe as she put on her shoes.

"Okay!" she said, standing up straight and clapping her hands together. "How do I look? You know what, don't answer that." Beca said, nodding as she stepped outside Chloe's door and into the hallway. "Alright, well, night Chlo. I'll... uh... text you later."

"Gotcha," the ginger answered, smiling a little. "Now get going, or you'll really be late." she prompted, ushering her out of the door. "Go get em, Becs!" she tied up, giving Beca a slight smack on the back, before smiling and closing the door, only to pop her head out as Beca was halfway down the hallway to call; "And you look great!"

Beca caught herself smiling as she sat at the DJ booth, settling in and beginning her shift. She chose to play the first song on her USB tonight, which just so happened to be the mix she'd been working on, inspired by a certain redheaded singer.

* * *

 **Whomp, there it is! Chapter three y'all. Okay, so, two things. I have the chapters for this story already mapped out, so that'll help me write (yay) and if you haven't take a look at my profile real quick and read what I wrote about the story. And look out for my new multichapter fic, _Chloe,_ that'll come out... soon. I hope. Anyway, again, sorry if there are minor typos. And remember, reviews inspire!**

 **xoxo**

 **~Beale**


	4. Chapter 4

She plays the mix two more times that night.

It's not like that made it special. After all, her shift was 3 hours long, but she only had around 30 songs to play, which practically forced her to play some over. So no, it wasn't special.

But it was.

Because it was _Chloe_ _'s_ song Beca was playing. _Chloe's_ song in _Beca's_ remix. And it sounded great. Deep bass lines and intricate drum beats and _Chloe's voice._ It would be an understatement to say Beca got lost in the music. A few seconds of silence followed after the song ended, and Beca was still reminiscing in the beat of the song, before she realized she was _live_ and needed to do something. She scrambled for the microphone, took a second to compose herself, before hitting a button and lightly saying; "WBUJ; Music for the independent mind." before she put on a mix of Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek and Krewella's Live for the Night (and those songs where so different but Beca made it work.)

* * *

It was 2AM when Beca left the studio. She made a mental note to ask Luke when her next shift was, because he didn't leave her schedule in the same spot as usual. She hoped it was the same days as the last few weeks. She'd play Mondays and Thursdays, usually 11PM - 2AM, but occasionally Luke would change it a little depending on _his_ schedule.

But today it was a normal night shift for her - thank the gods. Tomorrow she had a class at 8AM which god knows why she decided to take. Beca navigated around campus in the dark, trying to find Baker Hall which is where her dorm was. After wandering around for a couple of minutes, Beca was positive she was lost. Which troubled her, since she had gone back to her dorm dozens of times at 2AM.

She went into the nearest building, and began looking around for someone to help her. She recognized the building as the place where she took her English Lit class. Which was good, because that meant she didn't have to interact with other human beings to navigate anymore. She knew the way back to her dorm from here.

A few minutes passed as Beca walked at a brisk pace before she finally entered Baker Hall. She was most definitely relieved when she pushed open the heavy wooden doors, breathing in the all-too familiar scent of cologne, soapy water, and air freshener. It was an odd mix, in any case, but it had been he scent of the place Beca called home for the past year.

She was on the second floor when a door opened and nearly whacked her in the face.

She stumbled back a few paces, opening her mouth to scold the person who'd opened the door (probably with a lot of swear words) when the overwhelming smell of popcorn assaulted her nose, and Jesse turned around to close the door behind him.

"Of course you're here," Beca groaned under her breath. She reached up and ran a hand through her bangs, brushing them back and out of her face.

Jesse seemed not to notice her at first, what with his humming and tapping on his jeans, until he came nearly face to face with her. He jumped back, hand over his heart, before he raised his eyebrows. "Becs?"

Beca grunted in return. It sounded weird when Jesse called her that. It sounded... _off._ Not like when Chloe said it. And again, somehow her thoughts where brought back to the redhead again- because God forbid she have a moment without thinking back to the ginger.

Jesse took a moment to compose himself, before clearing his throat and continuing. "What're you doing here? It's like.. I dunno, sometime after midnight."

"Station," Beca said, shrugging nonchalantly. She shifted on her feet, swinging her arms and looking at the ceiling. "Where are you off to?"

Jesse closed his eyes, like he knew Beca would judge what he was about to say, which she probably would. "I ran out of popcorn."

Beca snorted, rolling her eyes. "Of course you did. Jeez Jess." she shook her head, before clapping her hands together. "I'm gonna head back now- before some of the freakish frat-boys get up for more beer. See you, Jesse."

The raven-haired man nodded, sending her a small smile she didn't reciprocate, before side-stepping her with a light; "Goodnight Beca."

And then it was over, and both freshmen where on their way again. There was nothing about the encounter with Jesse to be upset about, but as Beca opened the door to her dorm she found herself quite grouchy. She blamed it on the lack of caffeine.

Not bothering about possibly waking up Kimmy Jin, Beca closed the door rather forcefully before grunting and flopping down on her bed. She stared at her ceiling for what felt like an eternity, before doing half a sit up to cast a weary glance in the direction of her laptop, before falling back onto her mattress and turning onto her side. There would be no mixing tonight.

* * *

Her alarm went off at the proper time the next day, thank the _gods._ But this was one of the rare times that Beca wished it went off earlier. Mainly because the moment she glanced in the mirror, she groaned. Her makeup was messy and smudged seeing as she slept with it on, her hair was a mess of tangles and knots, she had dark circles on her eyes and her posture _sucked,_ but that was the easy thing to fix.

She really didn't feel like going to her music theory class. She just wanted a cup of coffee and a few more hours of sleep and a back rub. _God_ did she want a back rub.

But the DJ somehow found it in her to slip on something that looked like a flannel top and some jeans and shuffle into the backroom. She leaned over the sink (even though she had to tiptoe slightly) and splashed water on her face, though that did nothing for her makeup situation, it actually just made it worse.

"Great," Beca grumbled, looking at herself in the mirror, with mascara running down her face. "I look like a raccoon, just what I wanted." She reached over to turn off the faucet, before rummaging through the cupboard for something to help her with the whole... _situation._

* * *

Half an hour later and after a ton of concealer, eyeliner, water and black rags full of removed makeup, Beca finally deemed herself at least slightly appearance ready. She slung her bag over her shoulder, before taking a deep breath and leaving the room and Kimmy Jin behind.

Of course, not for long. Around an hour later, and Beca was walking away from her class, oddly satisfied with herself. She'd managed to make the class just in time, and had slipped away at the end without anyone really noticing her (or hating her, hopefully.)

She was heading back to her dorm when she turned a corner and was immediately engulfed in the smell of brownies. She was momentarily confused, until she passed a dorm door where the smell was stronger then ever. She stared at the door for a few seconds before her stomach practically yelled _"I'm hungry!"_ It occurred to her that she hadn't eaten yet today, and momentarily wondered how in hell or Hogwarts did she manage to survive this long on an empty stomach.

So of course, it was off to Reef's diner.

It took her maybe 10 minutes, but after a lot of stomach growling Beca caught sight of the diner about 30 yards away. Her speed walk slowed a little. But that was when she saw it. In the window of the diner, the same window that was just beside table four, was a head of flaming red hair that Beca would recognize anywhere by now.

The brunette pulled open the door to the diner and didn't even bother looking at the counter. She just took a sharp left and pulled out the unoccupied seat at table four, looking up at Chloe as she sat.

"Are you stalking me now?" Beca questioned with a hint of amusement, just to show Chloe she wasn't serious. She dropped her bag beside her chair, and began leaning on her elbows.

Chloe, who had seen Beca come in, already had a grin on her face at the DJ's inquiry. She waved her hand and set down the book she was apparently reading before Beca came in. And while Beca didn't notice she had it today, she did notice it was the same book as yesterday and that she bookmarked it the same way as before. "Not important," she started, pausing her sentence to take a sip from her cup of coffee that Beca _also_ had not noticed. "What is though, is last night I had the radio on after you left right? And some DJ or something played a remix of my band's song. _My_ band's song! That's amazing, right!?"

And Beca had to remember to breath, because she remembered she did _not_ tell Chloe what exactly her job was ("I'm sorry I gotta go, I'm gonna be late for work.") or why it was so late at night ("My boss can be weird about hours and I get landed with the night shift a lot.") so Chloe had no idea the remix she heard was probably _Beca's_ remix and Chloe had no idea that she was listening to the one station _Beca_ played her mixes on.

Her first thought was to play it cool. So she tried. "Yeah?" she hummed, raising her eyebrows in an attempt to sell her lie. "Wait, hold up, you're in a band?"

Chloe nodded enthusiastically, apparently buying Beca's awful lie. "Yeah!" she confirmed, leaning forward a bit to say in a lower voice, "Not to brag, but they selected me as their lead singer." before giving Beca a half smile and a wink and sitting back in her seat.

Beca nodded slowly, like she was trying to process this. "So, you sing then."

"Oh yeah," Chloe said, smile back in full force as she continued. "Singing is kinda my life. The numbers of talent shows I used to do is ridiculous. What about you, Becs? Do you sing at all?"

It took Beca a moment to answer, as she was a little shocked by the question. "I uh.. I dabble a bit, but I don't really think I'm that great."

Chloe rolled her eyes, apparently unfazed. "Sing something for me," she said, like singing in public was pretty much the easiest thing on earth.

"What, dude, no! Not in here." Beca said quickly, vigorously shaking her head _no._

"C'mon," Chloe prodded, reaching out with her arm and poking Beca. "I'll tickle you if you don't."

Beca raised her eyebrows. "Is that a challenge, Chlo?" she asked, tilting her head to the side a bit like she did when she was being provoked. But all Chloe did was push her chair up and stand, going over to Beca's side of the table and poking her under her rib-cage, to which Beca squirmed to try and get away from her finger, complaining slightly with a "No, stop it you... redheaded... person!"

Chloe laughed, rolling her eyes and crouching down to show Beca she wasn't going to move until she sang. And Beca cursed herself for doing this, but she sighed. A white flag. "Fine, fine you win." she muttered, turning herself around to face the ginger.

She took a deep breath, and sang the first few lyrics that came to mind, which happened to be part of High Highs song Open Season. _"Crawl in the back seat, old friend, it is really all in your mind, it is all in your mind, you look..."_ and that's when Chloe joined in, seemingly knowing the words. It kinda shocked Beca at first, but then she got back into the rhythm of the song. _"So tired of living like a kite... kite... kite... kite."_ And then Beca stopped, and smiled a little before pressing her lips together and looking away from Chloe's bright grin.

Because no, she didn't enjoy the way their voices meshed together so perfectly, or the way Chloe knew how to match pitch with her so well, or how Chloe's eyes lit up when she recognized the song, or how Chloe's smile made Beca feel like she did something right when all she did was sing.

And god, what was this woman doing to her.

* * *

 **I finally did it! I'm so, so sorry this took so long. I had a few writing issues here and there but tonight I pulled through and wrote like 1000+ words in an hour. I'd also like to apologize for minor typos. And psssst, come yell at me about this AU over on tumblr at i-said-oops. Baaaai.**

 **xoxo**

 **~Beale**


	5. Chapter 5

"You know the High Highs?" Beca hummed, trying to push the little part of her that was screaming of embarrassment to the back of her mind. Because Beca Mitchell does _not_ sing in public, and Beca Mitchell does _not_ sing for other people. Hell, if you even got a light humming from her, you're some kind of special.

But Chloe nodded enthusiastically. "That was Open Season right?" she asked, bouncing in her crouched position a few times before standing up and stretching. "I've got that one on my phone. It's just a nice thing to listen to on occasion." she hummed, sitting back down in her seat. Then she frowned, her eyebrows crinkled together and her lips were pressed. "Speaking of phones," she muttered, beginning to look through her purse. Finding what she was looking for, Chloe fished out her phone with a small "Ah-ha!" before placing it on the table before Beca. "I still need your number."

Beca stared at her phone for a few seconds, before jumping slightly and springing into action. She grabbed her phone from her jean pocket and unlocked it, before sliding it over to Chloe, in turn taking redhead's phone gingerly into her hands. She opened it and navigated her way over to her contact list, before proceeding to put in her information. She hesitated when she got to ''contact name'' however, not wanting to put in something stupid. So she went for simple, calling herself _Becs_ before handing Chloe back her phone.

The ginger took it, and in turn handed Beca back her phone with a small smile. The brunette quirked an eyebrow and checked her contacts, seeing Chloe had registered herself as _Chlo-Bear_ followed by a heart emoji. "Uh, Chlo?" Beca hummed, looking up at her friend.

"Yeah?"

Beca opened her mouth to continue, but instead shook her head. "Nothing." She turned her phone off and slipped into her pocket with a slight grunt. When she looked back at Chloe, she had her phone in her hands and her fingers where flying across the screen. All of a sudden, Beca's phone went off in rapid fire mode. About half a dozen text's came at once, and when Beca checked, all six of them were from Chloe.

 _Chlo-Bear (12:26pm): Becs huh?_

 _Chlo-Bear (12:26pm): That's adorbs_

 _Chlo-Bear (12:26pm): Hey_

 _Chlo-Bear (12:26pm): Didn't you come here for food?_

 _Chlo-Bear (12:26pm): You should get some_

 _Chlo-Bear (12:27pm): Because I'm not sharing my caffeine_

"So your that kind of person." Beca said, glancing at the ginger, then back at her phone screen.

"What kind of person?" Chloe prodded, leaning over the table to look at Becas phone screen, too.

"The kind of person that texts the person their sitting beside,"

"I am not!"

"Then what do you call these?" Beca muttered, motioning to the texts with her free hand, eyebrows raised.

Chloe grinned, leaning in a little closer, and whispered; "Silent conversations." and then she was gone, leaning back in her seat, with that stupidly beautiful smile plastered on her face and...

...Beca got up to get her food, grumbling a low, "I'll be right back," because _no,_ no one, especially Beca, should be thinking these weird cliche thoughts.

(But she couldn't help it.)

* * *

The rest of the day, it seemed like she couldn't escape the redhead presence. Every half an hour or so, her phone would go off with a new text. And every time, it was Chloe. With a new and exciting fact about her day. The problem was, whenever Beca read them, no matter how dumb or weird, it always made her smile. Which made her feel about as badass as a chinchilla.

 _Chlo-Bear (1:39pm): This guy with purple hair just jogged past me_

 _Chlo-Bear (2:53pm): saw tthe pruple hair guy agn, he was in a tree_

 _Chlo-Bear (2:54pm): and he's drinkin apple juice_

 _Chlo-Bear (3:42pm): ordring chinese tonight_

 _Chlo-Bear (4:28pm): if you want sum, it'll b here by like 6ish_

 _Chlo-Bear (5:57pm): food's here_

 _Chlo-Bear (6:02pm): he gave me too much_

 _Chlo-Bear (6:07pm): seriously Beca what does it take for you to come over_

At that, Beca couldn't help herself. Yeah, maybe she was a chinchilla, but at least chinchilla's are cute. And who would turn down an opportunity to hang out with a hot redhead?

Not that Beca thought she was hot.

But she texted her back anyway.

 _Becs (6:09pm): Gimme like, ten minutes to get ready, five to find a pair of shoes, and five more to get there._

The text back came so quickly, it started Beca, causing her to nearly drop her phone.

 _Chlo-Bear (6:09pm): So, 20mins then?_

 _Becs (6:10pm): 20 minutes._

And she really did try to make it there in 20 minutes, but it took her longer then expected to reverse her raccoon-like state into that of a normal human.

So all in all, it was at least half-an hour before she knocked on Chloe's apartment door.

The ginger didn't seem mad, or even slightly angry, when she opened the door. Actually, her face completely lit up. "Beca!" and it was so simple. Well, it kinda had to be. Beca was her name after all, and she heard it every day. But not like that. Not _happily._ Most days, it was just a drawl, an upset grunt, maybe even a sigh at best.

"Uh, hey." Beca hummed, flashing a quick smile. She raised her arms, planning to use them for _something,_ but ended up just dropping them back to her thighs awkwardly. What could she do with them anyway. "Sorry I'm late.'' she added, looking around the hall she was _still in._

"Oh, that's fine." Chloe nodded, pursing her lips. "I kinda thought you might be that kind of person."

Before Beca could ask _what_ kind of person, she was being ushered inside Chloe's apartment. And then Chloe would scooping Chinese food into a plate for her with talking about music and notes and chords and... it was going to be a long night.

* * *

 **Guys I'm really sorry this is so late, but here. This is the chapter I had most difficulty with, hopefully it doesn't show. Sorry for any typos!**

 **xoxo**

 **-Beale.**


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